Investors have been watching how well the company is adapting to declining personal computer sales, and unstable demand from corporations and government agencies.

Finding new markets to replace HP's dwindling PC revenues could be tricky, but the company has on different recent occasions announced intentions to pursue some new avenues. HP plans to enter the 3-D printing business as early as June, CEO Meg Whitman said at the company shareholder meting last March, and CTO Martin Fink announced earlier this month the company is investing $1 billion over the next two years to build out its line of cloud computing products and services.

The Palo Alto-based computer pioneer also wrapped up some thorny legal disputes over the last few months. It shelled out more than a $100 million to settle claims it had bribed officials in foreign countries to win lucrative contracts, and another $57 million to settle a lawsuit claiming the company had defrauded shareholders.

Correction:

The headlines of this story have been updated to reflect the correct comparison for HP's revenue results.